On April 18, 2024, the spring meeting of the aeec (Association of European Energy & Climate Lawyers), of which MStR Law is a founding member, took place in Lisbon. The theme of this year’s meeting was Offshore Wind (OW), hosted by Abreu Advogados, and speakers included Portuguese experts from industry and ministries, other guest speakers and AEEC members. Offshore wind farms are on the agenda in many European countries. The presentations included the situation in Portugal (objectives, regulations and importance of offshore wind in the Portuguese economy), global developments in the use of offshore renewable energy (global challenges for OW, European strategy for OW until 2035, integration and cooperation for offshore wind farm projects in Portugal and Spain, contributions of AEEC members regarding the development of OW in each country), OW challenges for grids, financing and supply chains (creating a suitable grid design for offshore renewables, mainstream experience with renewables from an industry perspective, strengthening a local supply chain to unlock economic opportunities, possible and relevant financing structures for floating offshore wind projects, contributions from AEEC members from each country).

Greece had around 5,200MW of installed wind turbines in 2023. Considering Greece’s enormous wind potential, there are significant producers and developers at the start. Offshore wind is expected to drive this figure even higher. According to the National Plan for Energy and Climate, OW is a national strategic priority. 1.9 GW are to be installed by 2030, under regulatory supervision. As in other countries, there is an awareness of the challenges of creating the appropriate infrastructure, finding skilled personnel, establishing supply chains and coping with the intense competition in the Mediterranean.  A legal framework for the development of offshore wind parks (OWP) has already been in place since 2022 with Articles 65-80 of Law 4964/2022. The main cornerstones of the law are the creation of a central institution for OWP, the “Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company S.A.”, or “HEREMA” for short, and a national programme for the development of OWPs, the definition of areas for the organized development of OWPs, the granting of OWP research concessions and the definition of individual areas for the construction of OWPs, the implementation of tenders for the award of long-term operating contracts with financial support (FiP), the granting of special producer certificates and the relevant approval procedures and guarantees. Two pilot projects are currently in preparation in the Northern Aegean in the Evros sea region, near the island of Samothrakis, with a capacity of 600MW and 400MW. Volos, Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis are to be developed as ports to support OWPs. As the CEO of HEREMA, Aristophanes Stefatos, recently explained in a speech, the first concession tenders are to take place in 2027 and therefore the tender for the company that will carry out the wind and depth measurements on behalf of HEREMA is to be carried out this year.